Zero Pulse

Your heart is no longer your own.

When U.S. Senator Marcus Graves collapses during a morning workout, it isn’t a heart attack. It’s a notification. A firmware hack has compromised the Aethelgard Cardio-Link—the smart pacemaker keeping him, and three million others, alive.

The message on their screens is simple: Pay the ransom, or the beat stops.

Enter Dr. Aris Thorne. Once a celebrated security researcher, Thorne is now a disgraced recluse drinking away his guilt in Venice Beach. He recognizes the malware immediately. He knows exactly how it bypasses the hardware encryption, and he knows there is no patch.

He knows this because he wrote the code.

The attack is the work of Julian Vane—Thorne’s brilliant, estranged protégé. Driven by a tragic past and a vendetta against the medical industry, Julian has turned Thorne’s life-saving research into a global kill switch. He doesn't just want money; he wants a reckoning.

With the FBI paralyzed and the death toll rising, Thorne must leave his exile to track down the student he failed. But Julian isn't looking for a negotiation. He’s waiting for a sacrifice.

In a world where life is a subscription service, the final payment is due.